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Archive for December, 2009

We have come to the end of the first decade of the new millenium.It has been one hell of a roller coaster ride for the Red-Devils and Co. During this period, United have set benchmarks for other teams to follow, reached the zenith of success the others can only dream of, thereby becoming the envy of a few and the love of millions. There has been the odd hiccup, a dry season with lacklustre performances, stars who’ve left the club.But,who can complain? Be it the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, the Carling Cup or the World Club Championship! The Devils can boast of all these crowning glories in their kitty.

United’s success can be attributed to coordinated team effort, moments of individual brilliance, the support staff and last, but surely not the least, the man who envisaged this vision and laid the foundation for the journey to the summit of success. Sir Alex Chapman Ferguson’s name needs no introduction to any football lover and commands the respect of every one. Ferguson celebrates his 68th birthday on December 31st! So here’s wishing him an advance happy birthday and reliving some of the finest moments of the devils the past decade.

5. The Great Comeback( Tottenham Hotspur 3-5 Man Utd )

4. Playing Catch-up (2002-03)

This season,United were trailing leaders Arsenal by 11 points at Christmas.Yet,we won the title.

He announced himself on the world stage in the 1998 World Cup with a spectacular finish against their bitter rivals Argentina.Since then, he has scored 40 goals for England in 89 appearances and is in striking distance of Sir Bobby Charlton’s record tally of goals for England.Was considered to be finest striker of his generation. Michael Owen’s career has been one filled with many ups and downs. Spate of Injuries,Wrong choices have let him down over the years. Move to Real Madrid saw him spending more time on the bench, which was grave injustice to his striking prowess. The time at Newcastle was ridden with lack of coordinated team effort and service to him was meagre.

Adding to the woes, Owen was dropped from the National Squad.With the 2010 World Cup less than a year away, the transfer to United could be the right break at the right time. The spectacular finish against City in the dying moments, increased his acceptance among the Redfellas. The recent hattrick in the Champions League has not only increased his chances of making it to 2010, but also an answer to his critics,who felt he was a man past his prime.Enough said!

Owen celebrates his 30th birthday on December 14th.

Here’s Wishing Michael Owen a Very Happy Birthday! May the force be with you and United!

The first home loss United suffer at home this season. And the first to Villa at Old Trafford in 26 years.

Sir Alex Ferguson put Park Ji Sung in the starting line up, leaving Berba and Owen on the bench. Remains a mystery why he wanted to do that. Maybe he was attempting to establish a good chemistry in our 4-5-1 system and hone Rooney’s skills as a lone striker? But if thats so, then why in this dangerous fixture? With a makeshift defence of Brown and Vidic and Darren “I own the frikkin midfield” Fletcher at right back, it was always going to be a difficult fixture, but it might have been difficult to acknowledge that, given the manner of our victories against West Ham and Wolfsburg.

So with a basically 4-5-1 setup and Giggs moving as supporting striker occasionally, it was still looking good for us. It looked like we could capitalize on the 2 dropped points by Chelsea. But it was all undone by the goal that came at a very crucial time for Villa at the hands of Agbonlahor. A deserved goal for Villa.

Would we have been better off with Carrick and Vidic at the centre of our defence, and Brown at right back? It was vital to contain Ashley Young, and maybe we underestimated the chances of Fletcher being dominated by Young.

But we made a strong comeback and poured forward, with Giggs and Rooney disappointingly missing some chances, and more notably, Rooney belting the ball goalward, only to rattle the crossbar. Frustrating.

After half time, it was expected that United would dominate, and Villa would defend in numbers. And that is, pretty much, what happened. Only, we never equalized. Why was Giggs brought off at half time? He was putting in great efforts and almost equalized before the break. Another injury? Hope not.

Too many questions, and not many answers, as of now. The story of the second half was pretty much the same throughout. United attacked. It was snuffed out. And again regained possession. But Villa literally had 8 men in their D whenever the ball got near, and again it was snuffed out.

And it ended with just 3 minutes of added time, the only complaint I can make of the Match officials. It was too less! There were too many interruptions in the second half and though 5 minutes would have been too much, 4 would have been less too. But still, we could have settled for 4.

The other decision, of a Yellow for a dive by Rooney, I will not argue. There was no contact, and the booking was warranted in every way. But that doesn’t mean Wazza was trying to fool the ref. He never made any appeal for a penalty. He could have tripped, he could’ve anticipated a tackle and gone off balance, or maybe it was a blatant dive. But knowing him, I know most would rightfully agree with me that he wouldn’t have celebrated, even if a penalty was wrongfully given.

But in a way, I’m glad of one thing atleast. If we would have lost when Chelsea would have won, It would have been much worse. Three points is still reaching distance. And there seems to be some invisible force at work against Chelsea. Even in its absence, there will be ACON to cheer us on to title glory.

On the bright side, now we go on a run of relatively easy fixtures in the league, facing the likes of Birmingham, Burnley, Hull City(twice), Wolverhampton and Fulham till January 26th. Thats not to undermine those teams, but they’re relatively easy games. And it coincides with the christmas, new year and ACON time. Thats the period when we have so often lifted ourselves to the top of the table for good. Lets hope its the same this time around!

I didn’t get to watch yesterday’s win over Wolfsburg, with Ten Sports opting to please the Real Madrid fans and broadcast their game against Marseille. So haven’t got much to say except, ROLL ON UNITED!! Roll on Owen!!

Come 18 december, would there be any team which wouldn’t be praying to avoid us in the last 16 round??

United had to play with a make-shift defence due to injuries to Ferdinand and Evans, while Vidic was suffering from flu. Gary Neville and Wes Brown suffered injuries compounding United’s problems. But United had no problem in brushing off West Ham in a convinving 4-0 win that will surely galvanise United especially after Man City beat Chelsea 2-1 to reduce the gap at the top to 2 points between United and Chelsea.

The game was pretty even in the first half but United had more of the possession. United made the crucial break when Scholes struck a powerful left foot shoot past Green after superbly controlling with his chest. United went into the break leading at 1-0. Gary Neville had to be substituted due to a groin problem. He was replaced by Carrick in the defence. West Ham stepped up the pressure in the second half, but United hit the Hammers on the break and a superb exchange of passes between Rooney and Giggs, who setup Gibson to drive an unstoppable strike into the net. Shortly after United netted their third after Anderson low cross into the six yard box was met by Valencia at the far post to score his 5th goal of the campaign. The game was all but over for the Hammers. Seconds later, Rooney got his name on the scoreboard when Valencia crossed into the path of Rooney who greatly obliged. It was 4-0 to United and one of their most convincing performances at Upton Park in recent years. United have injury problems to worry about as they face Wolfsburg in the last round of CL matches.

United have decided not to take up the option to sign Partizan Belgrade midfielder Adem Ljajic.

A report from the club’s official website states

The 18-year-old Serbian attacking midfielder had been lined up for a potential move to Old Trafford next year.

However, with a wealth of top young talent in that position already at the club, United have announced that the initial interest in Ljajic will not be followed up.

A club spokesman told ManUtd.com: “We had an option to buy the player but, having closely monitored his development over past 12 months, and taken into the consideration the young players emerging through the ranks, we have chosen not to pursue the transfer.”

There are interesting theories to why United chose to walk away from the deal. United either wanted to free some funds so they could spend it for a bigger player in January transfer window or they felt that Ljajic’s progress wasn’t good enough to go ahead with the deal. It would be interesting to note Fergie’s version on this. On the other hand, one must feel sorry for the lad. His dream of playing for United have been shattered. Ljajic, interesting has been nicknamed ‘Little Kaka’. United apparently had a ‘get-out’ clause in the deal. In my opinion, there could be some sort of financial crisis at the club. One wonders what United do in the January Transfer window.

Darron Gibson put in an impressive performance against Tottenham in the League cup quarter-final, reinforcing SAF’s faith and whacking their critics on their backside. Here’s the two goals scored by him which booked us the semis berth alongside Aston Villa on tuesday.

On the bench in the win against barnsley in the last League Cup outing, Corry Evans – younger brother of Johnny Evans, opens his heart about his past, present and future, ahead of another League Cup outing as United host Tottenham.

Born in Northern Ireland, him and Johnny Evans both played for Greenisland FC and were invited for trials at Manchester United by scouts. But the FA rules limited clubs to players who lived within an hour and a half of the club, so they moved to Manchester with their family, to increase their chances with United.